Jamali to improve ties with India

PAKISTAN’S Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali yesterday said Islamabad planned to resume road, rail and air links as well as increase sports ties with neighbouring India.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad, Jamali said he had also ordered the release of detained Indian fishermen and sailors as a goodwill gesture and proposed bringing respective embassies back up to full strength.

Mr Jamali was responding to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s announcement last week of a normalisation of diplomatic ties and a restoration of air links.

Mr Vajpayee made the announcement after an ice-breaking telephone call from Jamali to discuss ways to improve ties between the nuclear-armed rivals, which went to the brink of war last year.

Mr Jamali said earlier yesterday that Pakistan’s political parties, including hardline Islamic groups, had backed his bid to improve ties with India, but the dispute over the divided state of Kashmir had to be at the centre of any future talks.

“We believe that all outstanding issues between Pakistan and India must be addressed sincerely and constructively and in a composite manner through a sustained dialogue with a sense of priority,” Mr Jamali told the news conference.

The prime minister stressed that the interests of Kashmiris would be of “supreme importance”.

“It is my hope that India will seize the moment, put aside the acrimony of the past, and purposefully move forward with Pakistan to peacefully resolve all issues including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Mr Jamali said travel links would be resumed as soon as India agreed to the move. He said the strengthening of sports ties would start with cricket and hockey, games avidly followed by both Indians and Pakistanis.

Teams from the countries have competed against each other but have not played on each other’s soil since 1997.